The Investigative Agenda for Climate Change Journalism�Sea Level Rise�

Panelists:

Shamsuddin Illius

Rafiqul Montu

September 19, 2023

Bangladesh perspective

Sea Level Rise

• IPCC estimates - sea level has rising an average 5 millimeters per year in Bangladesh

• Bangladesh Environment Department estimates 10 millimeters

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• Costal cities including Dhaka-Sinking 20mm per year

• Out 64 districts 19 are coastal districts, Total population 167million

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• Rising sea levels will submerge around 17% of the country's coastal lands by 2050

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• Displace about 20 million people by 2050.

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• Climate change is costing the country 1% of its gross domestic product (GDP) every year

Migration a big issue

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• Migration : Internal and External
• Daily 2000 people moving to Dhaka
• Moving to Europe/ USA
• Growing climate migrants slums
• Depriving from basic needs
• Trafficking ( female are main targets)
• Drugs dealing
• Children not getting birth registration
• Policy gap– no legal protection for migrants
• Increasing poverty (over 20%)

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Case study

Loss of biodiversity/ buffalo

• Buffalo was main sources of protein of coastal people
• Salinity causes reproductive system hampered population fall over 60% in 2 decades, extremer weather, flood, Lightening other major causes
• 55% increase in salinity in coastal districts by 2050, causing infertility, malnutrition, and frequent illnesses in buffalo.
• Culture of serving buffalo yogurt/ sweet in different ceremony losing from
• Fall milk buffalo rises import of powder milk
• Profession shift from buffalo rearing to salt cultivation
• Because of the decline, buffalo curd, milk, and meat are hardly on the food lists of 40 million coastal people, making it difficult for them to meet their protein demand.

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Impacts on health/ water�

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• Saline water is affecting public health.
• Women and girls are the worst affected.
• Reproductive health and maternal risks are high.
• Women are prone to high blood pressure during pregnancy.
• Diseases are increasing due to salt water.
• Medical services in clinics and hospitals are inadequate.
• The crisis is exacerbated by natural hazards.
• Poor families have no budget for treatment.
• Clinics are often damaged by cyclones.
• Children grow up with stress.
• Families do not have nutritious food.

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Impact on Agriculture

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• Rising sea levels are forcing farmers out of their jobs.
• Many farmers are forced to move to cities for livelihood.
• Many coastal farming families have been displaced.
• Farmers are losing their land.
• Due to the saline water, many families are trying to survive by cultivating floating crops.
• Single mother farming families struggle to survive even harder.
• High tidal pressure and salinity are making cropland uncultivable.
• Many farmers in distressed areas are left out of government support.
• Coastal farmers are not able to make a living depending on agriculture alone.

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Tools and technique

• Follow Internal Displacement Monitoring Center for tracking migration
• Tracking increasing new climate migrants slums in urban areas
• For info on diseases-- International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh
• For salinity --Bangladesh Soil Resource Development Institute
• Local data-Record of hospitals for diseases– such dengue
• Follow climate plan--Policy gaps of government – widening inequality / tracking policy
• Collecting Data from the ground
• Information gathering through networking
• Prioritizing the voice of marginalized people
• Monitoring coastal changes– CEGIS-Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services.

Thank you